Heney l



(No Model.)

H. L. BIRDSALL.

BUGKBOARD WAGON. No. 267,135. Patented Nov. '7, 1882.

Fly. 2.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY L. BIRDSALL, OF BEDFORD STATION, NEW YORK.

BUCKBOARD-WAGON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent .No. 267,135, dated November 7, 1882.

Application filed July 1, 1882.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. BIRDSALL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bedford Station, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Backboard- Wagons; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of this invention, and is a vertical section taken through the broken line a: a; on Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bottom of the buckboard, showing the cleat-bearings, brace-rod sections, and coupling-spring.

This invention has relation to backboardwagons; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates the spring-board or combination of boardswhich forms the base of a buckboardwagon. UndertheboardAareattachedthereto, near the center, the transverse cleats or rests B B.

G 0 represent brace-rod sections, which are respectively fastened to the under side of the board A at or near its ends, and extend under the transverse bearings B, their free ends d passing each other at the middle portion of the board A, as indicated in the drawings. The ends d of the iron brace-rods are provided with heads or hooks e, which engage the spiral coupling-spring g at its opposite ends, said rods being passed through said spring in opposite directions. The iron rod braces and their coupling spiral spring form in connection with the bearings B B a longitudinal spring-brace, which extends the whole, or nearly the whole, length of the board A, and is designed to prevent it from sagging at the center. One or more of these compound spring-braces may be employed in fitting upa buckboard-wagon, accordingtorequirement. When weightisplaced on the board A it tends to cause theboard to become centrally depressed; but this tendency is opposed by the force of the spring or (No model.)

springs g, which operates by upward pressure on the cleats or rests B through the medium of the brace-rods O, and serves to strongly support the central portion of the board under a load, and when the load or weight is removed the spring-brace will at once raise the central portion of the board to its proper position, so that the board A is not liable to become permanently bent.

By this invention it is designed to facilitate theconstruction of light and strongbuckboardwagons. The material used in the springboard or buckboard need not be thick and heavy, because the compound spring brace or braces will develop sufficient strength to support the load and keep the board in proper shape. In fact, it is designed to make buckboard wagons of such lightness and strength that they can be used in carrying heavier loads than has been customary heretofore to transport in wagons of this character.

A spring-board with central springs and longitudinally connecting brace rods, which are adjustable thereon for setting the board, is not new in this connection, and two loops passing through the inner diameter of a hellcal spring have had their ends bent over the.

opposite ends of the spring and have been connected to the body of'the vehicle by hinged rods prior to myinvention,and I claim neither of these constructions, broadly, herein.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-- ln a backboard wagon, the combination, with the board A and its under cleats, B B, extending transversely, of the longitudinal brace-rod sections 0 O, and the coupling spring or springs g, through'which the ends (1 of said brace-rod sections pass in opposite directions, on gagingoppositecnds of said couplin g-sprin g, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed myname in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY L. BIRDSALL.

Witnesses:

(3110. H. KNAPP, WILLIAM J. HALSTEAD. 

